Roommates
by Terez
Summary: Rhodey learns that Bruce Banner is living at Stark Tower and takes issue with the Hulk, Tony is not please when he voices his concerns. Set after Iron Man 3.


**Iron Man is the property of Marvel. **

**Takes place after Iron Man 3**

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**Roommate**

"What are you building now?" Rhodey asks in concern, fearing that Tony is still trying to drown himself in his tech as opposed to dealing with his problems. He sits on a stool in one of his many labs at Stark Tower, surrounded by several tables, each littered with varying parts; a half mangled structure sits next him.

"Not building," Tony responses without looking up, his gaze focused on the part in his hand. "Fixing."

Rhodey rolls his eyes at the response. "What are you fixing?" he asks reaching out towards a scrap of metal.

"Don't touch," Tony warns, blowing into the piece in his hand. "It's U."

Rhodey pulls his hand back, grimacing when his eyes settle on the remains of Tony's robot. "He gonna be alright?" To him they're nothing more than helpers, mechanical engineering at its finest, but to Tony, they're practically his kids.

Tony moves off of his seat, squatting low in front of U, sliding his hands up inside the body. "Saved most of his hardware," he grunts reattaching the piece. His eyes quickly scan his work, blowing at a small grove, then wiping with a grease-stained rag. "I need to rebuild his arm," he continues, standing once he's pleased with his work. He moves over to one of the tables his eyes scanning the parts as he talks "And a lot of the outer paneling. Shouldn't take more than a few days," he ponders, plucking several things seemingly at random then returns to his stool.

"Good," Rhodey responds shifting a little awkwardly trying think of how to have a conversation he doesn't want to have. "You doing okay here?" he asks with a grimace dreading how hard Tony will fight not to have this conversation.

"Yep," Tony answers at once, causing Rhodey to groan.

"Don't be like that, Tony."

"Be like what? You asked if I was okay and I said yes, I'm okay."

Rhodey pushes looking frustrated, "Two months ago you couldn't even talk about what happened here, now you're living where the portal opened up. " He notices the way Tony's movements become a little more rigid and his jaw tightens, it's not something he would have noticed had he not been watching for it.

"I said I was okay," Tony snaps, looking irritated. "Not 100%, but I'm sleeping, I'm eating. I'm even talking to someone-"

"You're talking to someone?" Rhodey interrupts, blinking in surprise.

Tony spins around in his seat with a smug grin, "Yep."

Rhodey cocks an eyebrow, looking skeptical "Like a doctor?"

"He's got a degree and everything," Tony condescends.

"I keep telling him I'm not that kind of Doctor."

Rhodey shifts, his eyes scanning the lab, quickly locating the speaker, surprise coloring his face when he recognizes the man. He quickly turns to Tony, concern replacing the shock for only a moment as the surprise returns when Tony lights up with a grin. "Like I'm going to spill my guts to a stranger."

"At least they'd get paid to listen to you babble."

Tony snorts with laughter "You fall asleep half the time."

"Because I'm not a psychiatrist."

Tony waves him off as he stands, lost in his own world and oblivious to the tension Rhodey feels with the doctor in the room. He's seen the footage, knows what the man in front of him is capable of at the slightest provocation, and yet Tony jokes with him as if this thought never crosses his mind.

"Bruce Banner," The doctor introduces with a small smile and a slight wave, clearly the tension is not lost on him as he keeps his distance.

"James Rhodes," he states curtly with a sharp nod. Bruce smiles kindly in return, though it does nothing to ease the tension, even when Bruce turns his attention to Tony.

"I need you look at this," he tells Tony, shaking a tablet in his direction.

Tony moves away from U, wiping his hands on his jeans before taking hold of the tablet. He talks easily Bruce, standing right beside him as he clicks the screen. After several moments they both seem pleased with the outcome as Bruce takes the tablet back, bidding them both farewell and moves back to his work station across the lab.

"Are you out of your mind!" Rhodey hisses once he's gone and Tony's messing with U again; He moves in close to in an effort to keep the conversation private.

"What?" Tony asks, looking over his shoulder, his face twisted in confusion.

"You have the Hulk living here!" Rhodey hisses again.

Tony groans rolling his eyes as he turns back to his project, "Typical Military."

"He's dangerous Tony."

"Why don't you stop being a drone and try thinking for yourself some time?" Tony snaps, glaring angry.

Rhodey fights off another groan; Tony's never hid his displeasure for orders, often calling him a drone for following his own orders. "He could seriously hurt people."

"I'm having panic attacks and have access to high scale weapons, you wanna lock me up too?" Tony bites out.

Rhodey sighs, shaking his head "That's not the same thing Tony."

"I don't know if you noticed, but he wasn't 10ft tall and green."

"He decimated half of Harlem."

"Funny, I thought that was because of Blonsky, or do you just choose to ignore that because he's military and they like sticking their nose where it doesn't belong?"

Rhodey clenches his teeth, knowing the headache he has will only get worse. "He's going to end up hurting people."

"I'm not having this conversation. He's living here, end of story." He moves away from U, tossing his rag down on a table as he starts to walk off in the direction Bruce had gone. "Show yourself out," he barks out, clearly done with the conversation.

"Tony!" Rhodey calls starting to follow, but after a couple steps he backs off when Tony refuses to respond. He isn't going to follow after him to have the argument around Bruce and Tony knows that.

Sighing in defeat Rhodey shakes his head as he turns, showing himself out of the lab; he hopes Tony's faith is not misplaced.

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**A/N: I'd love to hear your thoughts!**


End file.
